MOHICAN POINT 
ON LAKE GEORGE 









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MOHICAN POINT 

ON 

LAKE GEORGE 




The Summer Home of 

Mr. and Mrs. W. K. Bixby 

of St. Louis, Mo. 



With a Brief Glance at the History 
of the Lake 



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. Y "^ 

W> Hr^ SAMSON 



New York 

PRIVATELY PRINTED 

1913 



G 3 S;5 






ONE OF 200 COPIES 
PRINTED EXCLUSIVELY 
FOR PRIVA'ra DISTRIBUTION 



FOR PRIVATB 









^ 

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Scenes must be beautiful, which, daily viewed. 
Please daily, and whose novelty survives 
Long knowledge and the scrutiny of years. 

— Cowper. 



CONTENTS 








Page 


In Explanation 9 


Lake George . 








11 


Visit of Champlain 








14 


Discovery of Lake George 








16 


Name of the Lake . 








19 


Military Events 








22 


County of Warren . 








26 


Town of Bolton 








28 


Mohican House 








36 


Docks at Bolton 








46 


The Cottages , 








48 


The Grounds 








49 


Sports .... 








53 


In Other Days 








58 



IN EXPLANATION 

Mohican Point, at Bolton Landing on Lake 
George, is the summer home of Mr. and Mrs. W. K. 
Bixby of St. Louis. This book is a modest attempt 
to describe it and its surroundings, and to gratify 
the natural curiosity of those who, having admired 
the most beautiful part of Lake George, have 
inquired into its history. The original intention 
was to limit the sketch to Mohican Point and the 
town of Bolton, but the writer has broken through 
these bounds and has outlined briefly the history 
of the lake itself. It was difficult to resist the 
temptation to do this, for no part of the United 
States is richer in historical events and associations. 
Most of the illustrations are from original photo- 
graphs. A section of a government map gives the 
contour levels and the place names in the vicinity 
of Bolton. 



LAKE GEORGE 

E.E GEORGE, far famed as the most beautiful 
of American lakes, has long been celebrated 
in song and story. For almost a century 
it has been the favorite resort of American artists, 
poets, and lovers of Nature, and it has been admired 
by tourists from all parts of the world, who have 
called it the "Como of America," or compared it 
favorably with the famous lakes of England and 
Scotland. Like Como and Windermere, it has the 
character of a noble river flanked by highlands, and 
it winds so gracefully by its many rocky islands that, 
at a single view, only a small portion of it can be seen, 
unless one climbs to the summit of a mountain, when, 
indeed, the whole lake lies in beauty below. Lake 
Champlain stretches away to the north, the Hudson 
glistens like a silver thread to the south, the Adiron- 
dacks loom up in the west and the White Mountains 
lie to the east, and all about the green hills roll like 
gigantic billows. As one sails over the lake, he is 
charmed by the scenes of exquisite beauty that 
unfold in rapid succession. The sparkling water, the 
brilliant sunshine, the rich verdure on the hills, and, 
at times, the dark, rolling clouds as a storm gathers 
on the mountains, all give beauty to a wonderful 
and ever-changing picture. 

The lake is a little more than thirty-two miles 
long and has a maximum width, measured due east 
and west across the tip of Tongue Mountain, of 3.3 
miles. In general, it is very much narrower. The 

11 



greatest depth of water (a little less than 200 feet) 
is found east of Dome Island at Bolton. The lake is 
322 feet above tidewater. It flows northeast and 
discharges into Lake Champlain at Ticonderoga, 
where the total descent in rapids and two picturesque 
falls is 221 feet. 

For half a century the statement was current 
that Lake George contained 365 islands, or one for 
each day of the year; the actual number, however, 
is not far from 225. Most of them are small. The 
largest is Long Island, which is often mistaken for 
the eastern shore; the highest is Dome Island; and 
perhaps the most famous is Diamond Island, not 
only because of the beautiful crystals of quartz, 
hardly surpassed by any in the world for trans- 
parency, which were formerly found in great abun- 
dance, but because of the military events which 
occurred there. Harbor Islands have the most 
tragic history. It was there that Parker's detach- 
ment was slaughtered by the French on the night of 
July 24, 1757; 131 were killed and more than 200 
were captured, of whom a few were rescued by 
Montcalm, and the rest were tortured by his 
Indian allies. Since 1872 these islands have 
been owned by the Paulist Fathers, who have 
erected a chapel there, and occasionally occupy 
the islands as a camp. Many of the islands 
are owned by the State, and, by observing a few 
simple and reasonable regulations, may be occupied 
by citizens at will, though permanent structures 
may not be erected. 

12 



Within the past twenty years, many handsome 
summer residences, surrounded by beautiful gardens 
and velvety lawns, have been built on the western 
shore of the lake, and there has been an improve- 
ment in the hotels to accommodate the constantly 
mcreasing throng of summer visitors. Of these, 
the best known are Fort William Henry hotel 
at the head of the lake, the Sagamore, on Green 
Island at Bolton, and the Rogers Rock hotel, at 
the foot of the lake. The launches and steamboats 
owned by summer residents are numerous and hand- 
some; two large steamers make daily trips up and 
down the lake; a Country Club adds to the enjoy- 
ment of the visitors; the new State roads make 
motoring a pleasure; and Lake George grows steadily 
in popularity as a summer resort. 

No lake in America is so rich in historical associa- 
tions. The Indians fought on its waters and its 
/ islands and pursued the deer on its mountains long 

/ before the white man came. From the earliest days 

of its recorded history, it was part of the great water 
route between Canada and New York, the control 
of which, being of supreme importance, was des- 
perately fought for, first by the Indians of Canada 
and the Iroquois of New York, then by the French 
and EngHsh, and finally by the English and the 
Colonists. It was often the chosen battle-ground of 
the French and English; magnificent armies have 
floated on its bosom and their cannon have awak- 
ened the echoes of its mountains. At both ends 
of the lake, and on some of its islands, are remains 

13 




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bears, and other sorts of animals that come from 
the mainland to the said islands. We caught a 
quantity of them. There is also quite a number of 
beavers as well in the river as in several streams 
which fall into it. . . . Next day we entered 
the lake, which is of considerable extent — some fifty 
or sixty leagues — where I saw four beautiful islands. 
. . , Continuing our route along the west side of 
the lake, contemplating the country, I saw on the 
east side very high mountains capped with snow. 
I asked the Indians if those parts were inhabited. 
They answered me 'y^s,' and that they were Iroquois, 
and that there were in those parts beautiful valleys, 
and fields fertile in corn as good as any I had ever 
eaten in the country, with an infinitude of fruits, 
and that the lake extended close to the mountains, 
which were, according to my judgment, fifteen 
leagues from us. I saw others to the south, not 
less high than the former, only that they were 
without snow. The Indians told me it was there 
we were to go to meet their enemies, and that they 
were thickly inhabited, and that we must pass by a 
waterfall, which I afterwards saw, and thence 
enter another lake three or four leagues long, and 
having arrived at its head, there were four leagues 
overland to be traveled to pass to a river which 
flows toward the coast." This is the first reference 
to Lake George. The waterfall (or rapids) is at the 
outlet of the lake at Ticonderoga; the river which 
flows toward the coast is the Hudson. Champlain 
saw the rapids, as he says, but he never saw the lake. 

15 



He was the first white man to behold any portion 
of the State of New York or to set foot thereon; 
and his visit in July, 1609, was the beginning of 
recorded history in this State, for it was not till the 
following September that Henry Hudson anchored 
the Half Moon within Sandy Hook, and began the 
exploration of the river which bears his name. While 
near Ticonderoga, Champlain had his famous battle 
with the Mohawks; he routed them, gave them 
their first experience with firearms, killed two of 
their chiefs with his own arquebus and began a war 
which continued, with occasional intermissions, 
until the French supremacy in Canada was ended. 
The French made friends easily with the Northern 
and Western Indians; but remembering always the 
firearms of Champlain, the Mohawks continued to 
be the implacable foes of the French, and in the 
main were the friends of the English. 

DISCOVERY OF LAKE GEORGE 

The first man to see Lake George and the first 
Roman Catholic clergyman to visit what is now the 
State of New York, was Isaac Jogues, a Jesuit 
missionary. He was born in Orleans, France, 
January 10, 1607, became a member of the Jesuit 
order in 1624, was ordained in 1636, and was sent 
to Canada as a missionary. He was a captive among 
the Mohawks in 1642-43 and was rescued by the 
Dutch. He reached France, but soon returned to 
Canada to continue his missionary labors among the 

16 




EAST END OK MOHICAN HOUSE. 1865 




SOITH SH)E OK MOIHCAN HOI SE. l«f)5 



Indians, notwithstanding the frightful cruelties to 
which he had been subjected. After laboring for a 
time at Montreal he went to Three Rivers to discuss 
peace between the French and the Mohawks. The 
terms were agreed upon; but when ratification was 
delayed, Father Jogues set out for the Mohawk 
country to adjust the remaining difficulties. It was 
on this journey that he discovered Lake George. 
The "Relation" of Father Lalemant, dated Quebec, 
October 28, 1646, says: "lis arriverent, la veille du 
S. Sacrement, au bout du lac qui est joint au grand lac 
de Champlain. Les Iroquois le nomment Andiatarocte, 
comme qui disoit la ou le lac se ferme. La P}re le 
nomma le lac du S. Sacrement." (They arrived 
on the eve of the Blessed Sacrament at the end of 
the lake which is joined to the great lake of Cham- 
plain. The Iroquois name it Andiatarocte, as one 
should say, "there where the lake is shut in." The 
Father [Jogues] named it the Lake of the Blessed 
Sacrament.) The last clause has been incorrectly 
translated by some writers as "the lake of the Holy 
Sacrament." There can be no doubt that Father 
Jogues discovered Lake George "on the eve of the 
Blessed Sacrament" — that is to say, in May, 1646, 
on the eve of the festival of Corpus Christi, which 
was kept on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday 
in commemoration of the supposed Real Presence 
of Christ in the Sacrament. 

But on what day of the month ? Here the author- 
ities differ. The Rev. Benjamin F. De Costa, who 
wrote several excellent books on Lake George, says 

17 



May 29th. John D. G. Shea, the distinguished 
Catholic historian, agrees with him, but he accepted 
the date in Charlevoix whose "Nouvelle France" 
abounds in errors. In a note to his "Historical 
Discourse" on the battle of Lake George, the Rev, 
Cortlandt Van Rensselaer gives May 27th as the 
correct date. The New York State Historical 
Association has erected a marker on one of the 
islands in the Narrows, giving May 30th. The 
Rev. John W. Dolan, who prepared a paper on 
Father Jogues for this Association in 1904, says 
May 29th. 

In the hope of settling this question beyond all 
doubt or controversy, the writer brought it to the 
attention of the Rev. T. J. Campbell, the scholarly 
editor of "America," whose monograph on "Isaac 
Jogues," published in 1911, giving the date as May 
30th, is a recognized authority. Father Campbell 
conferred with the learned chronologists on his 
staff, and writes that some of the discrepancies arise 
from the fact that there were two calendars in the 
seventeenth century, and some Protestant writers, 
endeavoring to ascertain the exact date of the 
discovery, have based their calculations upon the 
old Julian calendar, while the Catholic historians 
have used the Reformed Gregorian, which, of 
course, was the calendar of Father Jogues. "The 
difference between the two calendars was ten days. 
It is an error, therefore, to assume that in 1646 
Easter fell on the same actual day in the Old Style 
as it did in the New Style calendar. In the former, 

18 




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Easter Day was March 29th, and Trinity Sunday, 
May 24th, but it was incorrect to say that the 
CathoHc feast of Corpus Christi was celebrated on 
the following Thursday, May 28th. The fact was 
that Easter, N. S., April 1st, corresponded to 
March 22d, O. S. So the Catholics celebrated 
it in 1646 a week earlier than the Protestants. 
This would make all the other feasts a week 
earlier. Hence Corpus Christi fell on May 21st, 
O. S., and its eve was May 20th. Therefore, the 
correct statement is that Lake George was discovered 
by Father Jogues on the eve of Corpus Christi, 
1646— or May 30th, N. S., or May 20th, O. S." 
At the request of the writer, the Hon. James A. 
Holden, State Historian, has reviewed this ques- 
tion and comes to Father Campbell's conclusion. 
This, then, is the first time that a correct state- 
ment of the exact date of the discovery has ever 
appeared in print. 

NAME OF THE LAKE 

The name which Father Jogues gave was used 
in the "Jesuit Relations" from 1646 to 1764 — more 
than a century — and was used by the English and 
the Colonials until the change made by General 
William Johnson, shortly before the battle of Lake 
George. Writing from the head of the lake to the 
Board of Trade in London, September 3, 1755, 
Johnson, then in command of the Colonial forces 
and their Indian allies, said: "I am building a fort at 

19 



this lake which the French call Lake St. Sacrament, 
but I have given it the name of Lake George, not 
only in honor of his Majesty [George II], but to 
ascertain his undoubted dominion here." 

The new name was used universally by the English 
and Americans until James Fenimore Cooper in 
his famous novel, "The Last of the Mohicans," 
called it Lake Horican. He said that near its 
southern termination Lake Champlain "received the 
contributions of another lake, whose waters were 
so limpid as to have been exclusively selected by the 
Jesuit missionaries to perform the typical purification 
of baptism and to obtain for it the appropriate 
title of 'Saint Sacrament.' The less zealous English 
thought they conferred a sufficient honor on its 
unsullied fountains when they bestowed the name 
of their reigning prince, the second of the House 
of Hanover. The two united to rob the untutored 
possessors of its wooded scenery of their native right 
to perpetuate its original appellation of 'Horican.'" 
Here were two misstatements. The name which 
Father Jogues gave had nothing whatever to do with 
the purity of the water. The other was admitted 
by Cooper himself. In the preface to the edition 
of 1851, he said: "While writing this book, fully 
a quarter of a century since, it occurred to us that 
the French name of this lake was too complicated, 
the American too commonplace, and the Indian 
too unpronounceable for either to be used familiarly 
in a work of fiction. Looking over an ancient map, 
it was ascertained that a tribe of Indians, called 

20 




M0H1<;Ai\ house, 1870 




MOHICAN HOUSE, 1873 



*Les Horicans' by the French, existed in the neigh- 
borhood of this beautiful sheet of water. As every 
word uttered by 'Natty Bumpo' was not to be received 
as rigid truth, we took the Hberty of putting the 
'Horican' into his mouth as the substitute for 'Lake 
George.' The name has appeared to find favor, 
and, all things considered, it may possibly be quite 
as well to let it stand instead of going back to the 
'House of Hanover' for the appellation of our finest 
sheet of water." And in the preface to the edition 
of 1872 he said: "There is one point on which we 
would wish to say a word before closing the preface. 
Hawk Eye calls the Lac du Saint Sacrement 'The 
Horican.' As we believe this to be an appropriation 
of a name that has its origin with ourselves, the time 
has arrived, perhaps, when the fact should be 
frankly admitted." 

The suggestion has often been made by thought- 
less writers that the name of Lake George should 
be changed to Lake Horican, but in view of Cooper's 
admission that the name he gave had no historical 
basis or significance, but was purely fanciful and his 
own invention, the suggestion should never be 
renewed. There is no more reason for changing 
the name of Lake George — though named for 
an English king — than for changing the names 
of Albany and New York — named for princes 
of the royal blood — but if a change be insisted 
upon, just for the sake of a change, the lake 
should bear the name of the Christian martyr 
who discovered it. 

21 



MILITARY EVENTS 

This is not a history of Lake George, but some of 
the more important mihtary events may be referred 
to briefly. The first war party of whites that went 
down the lake was that of Gerrard Luykasse 
and Herman Vedder, who were accompanied by 
eighty Mohawk warriors. At Fort Ann, on July 
9, 1691, they met the party organized by Major 
Peter Schuyler, of Albany, and agreed to proceed 
by way of Lake St. Sacrament and join Schuyler's 
party at Chinandroga (Ticonderoga) in six days, 
Schuyler's party to go by way of Lake Champlain. 
The two parties joined as agreed, forming a force 
of more than 250 men, and went on to La Prairie, 
where they attacked the French and had some hard 
fighting, getting back to Albany after many adven- 
tures on August 9, 1691, with a loss of thirty-seven 
killed and twenty-five wounded. In 1731, Crown 
Point was fortified by the French, and four years 
later they constructed Fort St. Frederic there, which 
they destroyed in 1759 on the arrival of Amherst and 
his army. The year 1753 marked the beginning of 
the old French war; two years later the French, 
having pushed on toward the lake, erected a fort 
at Carillon, now Ticonderoga. On September 8, 
1755, the battle of Lake George was fought at the 
head of the lake. General William Johnson defeating 
the French under Baron Dieskau. This was a lucky 
victory, won by a general who had taken no pre- 
cautions to protect his forces in case of defeat, who 

22 



lacked the ability to follow up his success, and who 
calmly appropriated the rewards that belonged to 
others. On September 24, 1755, Major Robert 
Rogers began his remarkable career as a ranger, and 
in the following October, Fort William Henry was 
constructed. On March 18, 1757, Rigaud made an 
unsuccessful attack on it, and four months later 
Montcalm, with a stronger force, was in motion 
against it. On July 24, 1757, Colonel John Parker, 
landing his men on Harbor Islands, suffered a fear- 
ful defeat at the hands of the oncoming French. 
On August 9, 1757, Fort William Henry was sur- 
rendered to Montcalm by Colonel George Monro, 
who had pleaded in vain for help from General 
Daniel Webb, who lay at Fort Edward with 4,000 
armed men. The massacre of the garrison occurred 
the next morning, the tomahawks of Montcalm's 
Indians striking down the disarmed soldiers and 
the defenceless women and children. The French 
then burned the fort and retreated to Canada. 
On July 26, 1758, General James Abercromby arrived 
at the head of the lake and soon had under his 
command the largest army which, until the Civil 
War, ever assembled in the New World. It 
comprised 17,000 men, was well equipped, and 
covered the entire lake as it proceeded with martial 
music and flying banners on its way to Ticonderoga. 
A desperate assault was made on the fort, the 
blundering English general was badly defeated, and 
with 12,000 fighting men made a disgraceful retreat. 
On March 1, 1759, the seventh army for the conquest 

23 



of Canada began to assemble at Albany under a new 
general, JefFery Amherst, and on May 29th got 
under way. His force was much smaller than that 
under Abercromby, but it was handled better. The 
voyage down the lake was begun on July 21st, and 
again the waters were covered with the boats of an 
invading army. The French found that successful 
resistance was impossible; they blew up Fort 
Ticonderoga, and on July 27, 1759, the English 
flag flew over it for the first time. The victorious 
Amherst pushed on and took possession of Crown 
Point on August 4th. The next stirring event was 
the capture of Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen and his 
Green Mountain Boys, on May 10, 1775, and two 
days later Crown Point was captured by Warner. 
On July 18th Schuyler arrived at Ticonderoga and 
took command. In April of the following year — 
four months after the death of Montgomery before 
the walls of Quebec — Benjamin Franklin, Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton, and Samuel Chase went down 
Lake George to see if they could induce the Canadians 
to join the Americans in the revolt against Great 
Britain. On June 16, 1777, the British general, 
Burgoyne, with a formidable army set out for Crown 
Point. On the night of July 5, 1777, Fort Ticon- 
deroga was abandoned by the Americans under 
St. Clair. The British pursued them to the east- 
ward and then endeavored to reach the Hudson by 
way of Lake Champlain and Wood Creek. This 
was a fatal move; the Americans felled trees and ob- 
structed their advance so successfully that Schuyler 

24 








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was able to raise an army to the south; and at 
length Burgoyne, defeated at Freeman's Farm on 
September 19th and at Bemis Heights on October 
7th, was obliged to surrender ten days later to Gates 
at Saratoga. If the British general, after the capture 
of Ticonderoga, had gone up Lake George at once, 
it is not likely that his progress to the Hudson could 
have been prevented, in which case the British would 
have secured control of the entire water route 
from Canada to New York; New England would 
have been cut off from the Southern colonies, and 
the Confederacy might have been hopelessly divided. 
The battle of Saratoga was, indeed, one of the decisive 
battles of the world; it showed that the Colonial 
soldiers could stand against the regulars of England, 
and it led to the alliance with France, without which 
it is extremely doubtful if the Americans could 
have won their independence. While Burgoyne was 
struggling hopelessly against the Colonial army at 
Freeman's Farm, John Brown of Pittsfield — "the 
first man who had proposed an invasion of Canada" 
— was inflicting serious losses on the British lines of 
communication. He had been actively engaged 
during the summer on the shores of Lake George, 
and on September 18, 1777, he surprised the out- 
posts of Ticonderoga, liberating a hundred im- 
prisoned Americans and capturing nearly three 
hundred of the enemy; then he hurried up the lake, 
and late in September made his famous but un- 
successful attack on Diamond Island, which Bur- 
goyne was using as a base of supplies. Captain 

25 



Thomas Aubrey was in command and repelled 
Brown's assault. Following Burgoyne's surrender 
at Saratoga, there were no important events 
until the capture of Fort George at the head 
of the lake by the British expedition under 
Major Carlton on October 11, 1780. This ended 
military events on Lake George. 

COUNTY OF WARREN 

For many years the county of Albany embraced 
all of Central, Western, and Northern New York. 
On March 12, 1772, however, the Colonial Assembly 
created the county of Charlotte — named for Queen 
Charlotte — and it included what is now Warren, 
Washington, Essex, and Clinton counties, and part 
of Vermont. On April 2, 1784, as soon as it could 
conveniently do so after the treaty of peace with 
Great Britain, the legislature of the new State of 
New York changed the name, for patriotic reasons, 
from Charlotte county to Washington county. 
As the population increased, a division of territory 
was demanded, and on March 12, 1813, the county 
of Warren was set off from Washington county, and 
named in honor of General Joseph Warren, who 
had lost his life at Bunker Hill. The centennial of 
the county was celebrated during the summer of 
1913 with appropriate public exercises in the various 
towns. Lake George lies almost wholly within the 
limits of this county. The several towns in which 
the county is divided are Bolton, Caldwell, Chester, 

26 




•THE HUDDLi;. la 




!VU»HIi:AN point. 1879 



Glens Falls, Hague, Horicon, Johnsburg, Luzerne, 
Queensbury, Stony Creek, Thurman, and Warrens- 
burg. The original white owner of the county was 
the Rev. Godfredius Dellius, pastor of the Dutch 
Reformed Church in Albany, who, in 1696, obtained 
a patent from Governor Fletcher for nearly all of 
what is now Warren, Washington, and Essex coun- 
ties on condition that he pay the crown an annual 
quit rent of one hundred coon skins. He was deposed 
from his ministerial functions because of the result- 
ing scandal, and is supposed to have transferred his 
clouded title to a successor in the same pastorate, 
the Rev. John Lydius, whose son, Colonel John 
Henry Lydius, claimed the territory and exercised 
some of the powers of a governor at Fort Edward. 
Other very extensive patents were granted in this 
region in 1708, 1762, 1772, 1774, and 1794. The 
first officers of the county were William Robards, 
county judge; Robert Wilkinson, surrogate; Henry 
Spencer, sheriff; John Beebe, clerk; and Michael 
Harris, treasurer. It was not until 1822 that the 
county was sufficiently populous to have an assem- 
blyman of its own. The first newspaper, the "War- 
ren Republican," appeared in June, 1813. There 
was a great outpouring of men and boys during the 
second war with Great Britain; indeed, of the male 
citizens of Warren county but few were left behind. 
There was another great patriotic outburst at the 
beginning of the Civil War; the population was 
small and there was little wealth, but few counties 
in the State made greater sacrifices for the Union. 

27 



TOWN OF BOLTON 

The town of Bolton was formed on March 25, 
1799, from the town of Thurman, and then com- 
prised, in addition to its present territory, all of 
Hague, which was set ofF in 1807, part of Caldwell, 
until 1810, and part of Horicon, until 1838. The 
town lies on the eastern boundary of the county 
between Hague on the north and Caldwell on the 
south. A part of Lake George forms its eastern 
boundary, and the Schroon River separates it from 
Warrensburg on the west. The soil is a light, sandy 
loam, not wholly unproductive, especially along the 
lake, where fruits are successfully cultivated. The 
general surface of the town, however, is so stony 
and broken that not more than one-half of it is 
susceptible to cultivation. The surface is occupied 
principally by the lofty mountain ridges — a part 
of the Kayaderosseras range — which rests between 
Lake George and the Schroon River. The three 
prominent peaks of this range are: Tongue Moun- 
tain, on the peninsula between the lake and North- 
west Bay, which rises 1,748 feet above tidewater and 
1,426 feet above the lake; Pole Hill, in the northern 
part of the town, which is 1,584 feet above tide; and 
Cat Mountain to the south, which is 1,954 feet above. 
The mountains generally rise abruptly from the 
lake, but toward the west the surface assumes the 
character of a high, rolling upland. Among the 
mountains are several lovely lakes. Of these, the 
largest are Trout Lake (sometimes called Bolton 

28 



Pond) and Edgecomb Pond. The others are Wing 
Pond, Pole Hill Pond, and Indian Pond. The Bolton 
brooks running into the lake are Edmunds, Huddle, 
Finkle, Indian, and Northwest Bay Brook. Fly 
Brook, a pretty tributary of the last, runs wholly 
in the town of Hague. 

The settlement of the town of Bolton was com- 
menced in 1792, principally by New England people. 
Among the first settlers were Joseph Tuttle, James 
Ware, Rufus Randall, Benjamin Pierce, David and 
Reuben Smith, Ebenezer Goodman, Daniel Nims, 
Frederick Miller, and Thomas McKee. The first 
birth was that of Lydia Ware; the first death that 
of Mrs. John Pierce. The first school was taught by 
Sally Boyd. The first town meeting was appointed 
to be held on April 2, 1799, at the house of John 
Clawson, but "for want of accommodations was 
adjourned to Captain Stow's gristmill." The first 
church (Presbyterian) was formed in 1804; the 
Rev. Reuben Armstrong was the first settled 
minister. The first supervisor was Asa Brown, 
1799-1800. In 1820, John J. Harris, of Queensbury, 
built three sawmills in Bolton, and for many years 
lumbering was the chief occupation of the people. 
When the timber disappeared the people turned their 
attention to agriculture. The population has always 
been small; in 1850, Bolton had only 1,147 inhabitants 
and thirty years later the population was even less — 
1,132. There has been little change in recent years. 

Nevertheless, the little town has been well known 
to tourists for seventy years; it has been visited 

29 



by hundreds of famous men and women, and it will 
always be a favorite summer resort for those who 
seek relief from the heat and stress of city life. 
Within the limits of the town is the most beautiful 
scenery on the lake. Many islands dot the water, 
and in the foreground lie Black Mountain, Shelving 
Rock, Buck Mountain, Pilot Mountain, and Tongue 
Mountain, while on the western boundary are the 
picturesque Schroon River and Lake. The following 
charming description, written by T. Addison Richards, 
while a guest at the Mohican House, was published 
in "Harper's Magazine" more than sixty years ago 
(July, 1853), and applies perfectly to conditions as 
they exist today: 

"Of all the haunts on the lake, Bolton is pre- 
eminent in its array of natural beauty. In no other 
vicinage can you put out your hand or your foot, 
and in one leisurely pull on the water or in one quiet 
stroll on the shore possess yourself of so many and 
so richly contrasting pictures. The genuine lover of 
Nature may linger long at other spots, but here 
is his abiding place. Bolton is a township which, 
while having a name to live, is yet dead. It possesses 
a shadowy conglomeration of huts, which the mod- 
esty of the good Boltonians themselves dare not 
dignify with any prouder appellation than that of 
the 'Huddle.' The farmhouses round about are 
reasonably thick and well-to-do, certainly; but still 
Bolton, in the vocabulary of the stranger, is neither 
more nor less than the 'Mohican House,' whose 
esteemed commandant is Captain Gale, a name 

30 



next to that of 'Sherrill' most gratefully interwoven 
with the carnal history of Horicon. Yes! the 
Mohican House is Bolton and Bolton is the Mohican 
House; even as Bardolph was his nose and his nose 
was Bardolph. Great are both! 

"Among the genial spirits who were our few 
fellow-guests here during two happy moons some 
year or so ago was one of Italia's most gifted 
daughters, whose voice has rung in melody through 
all this wide land, yet never in such sweet and 
wmning harmony and with such worthy accessories 
as under the starry canopy and amidst the enrapt 
stillness of Horicon. 'Casta diva che in argenti,' 
floating spirit-like over the glad waters and gently 
echoed by listening hill and isle, is not quite the 
same thing as when sent back from the proscenium 
of 'Astor Place.' Our Signorita had 'the heavens 
and earth of every country seen,' had known and 
loved Katrine and Windermere, Constance, Lomond, 
Geneva, and Grassmere, had grown to womanhood 
on the sunny banks of immortal Como, yet found 
sweet Horicon more charming than them all.* 
What better evidence of the sweet poetry and power 
of the lovely theme of our present memories can 
we have than the earnest and enduring emotion and 
sympathy it wins from the most cultivated souls, 
no less than from the wonder-stricken novice amidst 
the chefs-d'ceuvres of Nature.? 

"It IS no slight task to determine in which direc- 
tion her e to seek the picturesque - whether in the 

*This reference is to Madame Parodi. 



31 



bosom of the lake, on the variedly indented 
shores, or on the overlooking mountain tops. 
Everywhere is abundant and perfect beauty. 
Among our poor trophies of the pencil we have 
preserved a little glimpse looking southward from 
the edge of the water at Bolton. [See the frontis- 
piece.] Our only regret is, as we offer it, that, 
with our best seekings, we may still appear to 
the reader too much like the pedant in Hierocles 
submitting a brick as a sample of the beauty 
of his house. 

"The average width of Lake George is between 
two and three miles. At the Mohican House this 
average is exceeded; indeed, at one other point only 
is it anywhere broader than here. All the leading 
features of the locality are commanded here. The 
islands within range of the eye are many and of 
surpassing beauty — and among them is that odd 
little nautical eccentricity called Ship Island, from 
the mimicry in its verdure of the proportions and 
lines of the ship. [The tree which formed the 'bow- 
sprit' of Ship Island, lying close to Recluse Island, 
has long since disappeared.] The landing is near 
the mouth of the Northwest Bay — a special expanse 
of five miles, stolen from the main waters by the 
grand mountain promontory aptly called the Tongue. 
It is the extension into the lake of this ridge of hills 
which forms the Narrows, entered immediately after 
passing Bolton. Contracted as the channel is at this 
point, it seems yet narrower from the greater eleva- 
tion of the mountains, among which are the most 

32 




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magnificent peaks of the neighborhood. Here is the 
home of Shelving Rock, with its hemisphere of 
pahsades and its famous dens of rattlesnakes; here 
too, monarch of hills, the Black Mountain, with its 
rugged crown of rock, holds his court. Tongue 
Mountam is the favorite haunt of the Nimrods in 
their search for the luscious venison. Speaking of 
the chase reminds us that we owe a line to the sister 
sport of the angle. It is in the vicinage of Bolton 
that both these delights may be best attained, and 
particularly is it the field par excellence for pisca- 
torial achievements. . 

"Charming as are the scenes from the surface 
of the lake, they are surpassed by the glimpses 
continually occurring in the passage of the road 
on the western shore (the precipitousness of the 
mountains on the other side admits of no land 
passage), and commanded by the summits of the 
hills Leaving Bolton, the road, which has thus 
tar followed the margin or the vicinage of the water, 
steals ofF and sullenly winds its rugged and laborious 
way across the mountains, offering nothing of 
interest until it again descends to the lake near 
Liarfield s~a tedious traverse of a score of miles or 
more. The interval is much more rapidly and 
pleasantly made on the steamer. From Sabbath 
Day Pomt and Garfield's the road again jogs on 
merrily in the neighborhood of the water. Descend- 
mg the mountains at the northern end of this central 
portion of the lake road you catch a noble and 
welcome panorama of the upper part of the Horicon. 

33 



But returning to Bolton — we were about speaking 
of the delightful scenes from the shores thereat. 
Within a short walk northward, an exceedingly 
characteristic view is found looking across the mouth 
of the Northwest Bay to the Narrows. From all 
the eminences or from the shore the landscape is 
here of admirable simplicity, breadth, and grandeur. 
It is seen most justly as the morning sun peeps 
over Black Mountain and its attendant peaks. 
Looking southward from various points yet 
further on, fine views of the head of the lake 
are obtained — among them the French Mountain — 
terminating a pleasant stretch of lawn, hill, and 
islanded water." 

Opposite Mohican Point, on which stands the 
summer home of Mr. and Mrs. Bixby, and half-way 
across the lake, lies Dome Island, the highest and 
one of the most beautiful of all the Lake George 
islands. This was one of six islands purchased from 
the State in 1856 for less than MOO; it was then 
valued at 3100. The others were Clay, Flora, Crown, 
Turtle, and Fourteen Mile Island. No doubt, fre- 
quent landings were made upon Dome Island during 
the French and Indian war, and it was one of the 
outposts of the Colonials toward the end of that 
contest. Here it was that Putnam left his men 
while he informed General Webb of the presence 
of the Indians and French on the islands near the 
entrance of Northwest Bay. There are no indications 
that there were any fortifications on Dome Island, 
and it is one of the few large islands on which no 

34 



building has ever been erected. Indeed, the only 
evidence that any human being ever stepped upon 
this island is a weather-beaten flagstaff at the south 
end. West of Dome a white flag marks Gull Rock, 
a famous fishing place. Southwest of this lie Ship 
(or Sloop) and Recluse Islands. The latter was the 
subject of the earthquake hoax of 1868; the New 
York papers published a despatch from Glens 
Falls describing how this island disappeared under 
eighty feet of water through a great convulsion of 
nature. The house on Recluse Island is the first 
private residence erected on an island in Lake 
George. It was built by Rufus Wattles, of New York, 
soon after the close of the Civil War. From a point 
in the steamer's course, after rounding Recluse 
Island, is obtained the finest general view of 
Bolton and of the lake also. Clay Island lies 
close to Recluse and at its southwestern extremity 
is separated from Barker's Point by a narrow strip 
of shallow water. To the westward is Bolton 
Bay. The local appellation of the southern por- 
tion is Huddle Bay, and beyond the trees that 
line the shore is the "huddle" of houses from 
which it receives its name. Within this part of 
Bolton Bay are three beautiful little islands — 
Leontine, Hiawatha, and Sweet Briar. From the 
summer-house on Mohican Point a fine view of 
the northern part of Bolton Bay is also obtained, 
and northeast lies Green Island, upon which is 
the Sagamore hotel. Beyond that lie the many 
islands that form the Narrows. 

35 



MOHICAN HOUSE 

In 1802 there was no regular tavern in the town 
of Bolton and only four or five framed houses. 
On Mohican Point, where the residence of Mr. 
Bixby now stands, Roger Edgecomb had a framed 
house, probably erected in 1800 or a little earlier, 
which he soon enlarged and converted into a tavern, 
and with occasional additions and improvements 
it continued to be a tavern and then a regular 
hotel till the close of the year 1898. Myrtle Hitch- 
cock succeeded Edgecomb about 1807, and immedi- 
ately built the first store in the town — a little red 
building about thirty-five feet square — at the 
extreme end of the Point. It was kept by Samuel 
Brown. A small stone dock afforded a landing- 
place, and in the floor of the store is said to have 
been a mysterious trap-door opening into a cellar, 
wherein were concealed the goods which were 
smuggled from Canada. Samuel Brown succeeded 
Hitchcock as the landlord and afterward put up a 
building on the little bay north of the Point for 
the manufacture of potash. The ruins of this 
building could be seen in the water as late as 1880. 
On December 20, 1823, Thomas Archibald bought 
the tavern and considerable land with it for 3300 
from Peter Dow Beekman and Peter Edmund 
Elmandorf, executors of Jeremiah Van Rensselaer. 
On July 6, 1824, he sold the property to his brother- 
in-law, Truman Lyman, and the place became known 
as Lyman's Tavern. On April 2, 1851, Lyman sold 

36 




D 
O 
K 

< 

o 



r^ 



this tract of thirty-seven acres and 125 acres at 
Green Point, on the west side of Tongue Mountain, 
to Daniel Gale, whose father, Gilbert B. Gale, suc- 
ceeded Lyman as the landlord, and remained there 
till 1856. Up to the time of this sale the tavern was 
of little importance. Gale, however, made extensive 
improvements and catered to the traveling public; 
summer guests began coming from New York and 
Philadelphia, and his game dinners soon made the 
tavern widely and favorably known. His sons 
Egbert and Gabriel named the hotel the Mohican 
House and erected the flagstaff surmounted by the 
wooden effigy of an Indian warrior, which remained 
the trade-mark of the hotel till it closed its doors 
in the autumn of 1898. This figure of the Indian is 
engraved on the Mohican Point stationery, and a 
facsimile will be found on the title page of this 
volume. The son Daniel (who, as the manager of a 
syndicate, built the first Fort William Henry hotel 
at the head of the lake) leased the Mohican House 
property in 1856 to Captain Hiram S. Wilson, who 
was the proprietor till the fall of 1861. On June 5, 
1862, Gale deeded the Mohican and Green Point 
property to Myron O. Brown and Hiram H. Wilson 
(son of Captain Wilson). Mr. Brown, who has done 
more than any other man to popularize Bolton 
as a summer resort, was born in that town September 
5, 1837. His father was sheriflT of Warren county 
at an early day and served in the Board of Super- 
visors from 1846 to 1849; his son was a member 
of the same board in later years. Myron O. Brown 

37 



had been employed at the Mohican House in 1858, 
1859, and 1860, doing his first work as a waiter when 
dinners were served under the trees, and becoming 
noted as the master of a sailboat and a guide for 
visiting anglers. On February 9, 1863, he deeded 
his half interest to his partner, Hiram H. Wilson, 
who became the sole owner and manager, and Mr. 
Brown removed to the little settlement known as 
"The Huddle," a short distance south, where he was 
a merchant for eleven years. A picture of "The 
Huddle" as it was in 1879 appears on another page. 
The building at the extreme right (vacant in 1913) 
was the one in which Mr. Brown kept his store. 
The large building in the center was the tannery 
which was demolished many years ago. 

On May 6, 1864, William H. Barker, of Tivoli, 
Dutchess county, N. Y., bought the two tracts of 
land from Wilson for $3,600, and on August 18, 
1864, bought from George B. Reynolds 100 acres 
on what has since been known as Barker's Point, a 
beautiful tract of wooded land, which was thenceforth 
used by the Mohican House as picnic grounds and 
which Mr. Bixby has recently improved with rustic 
bridges, footpaths, and motor roads. Mr. Barker 
leased the Mohican House to Abijah Davis, of 
Vermont, who was succeeded a year later as land- 
lord by Stephen L. Clements, a Methodist minister, 
who came from Crown Point. He was an eccentric 
and unpopular landlord, and in 1871 Mr. Barker 
leased the property to Hiram H. Wilson, who 
became the proprietor for the second time and 



38 



conducted the hotel for four years. His mind failed 
and he became a patient in one of the State asy- 
lums, where he died about 1907. In 1873, S. R. 
Stoddard, of Glens Falls, published the first of his 
long series of Guide Books to Lake George, and in 
that we find the first description of the Mohican 
House, as follows: 

"The house is a long, low structure, two stories 
high, fronted by a piazza, and backed by a man 
who has spent the best part of his life catering to 
the public, H. H. Wilson, whose father before him 
kept the 'Mohican' for many years. On the Point 
where the dock now stands was once a building 
which had been used by a band of smugglers as a 
point of distribution for contraband goods brought 
through from Canada. The lawn is shaded by 
maples and locusts and the long Point is protected by 
a new and expensive sea-wall, extending quite a 
distance into the lake, and terminating in a sub- 
stantial dock, where the guests repair at rosy 
morn and dewy eve to witness the arrival of the 
steamboat, which is considered the great event 
of the day." 

In 1875 Myron 0. Brown became the proprietor 
under a lease from Mr. Barker for five years (sub- 
sequently extended three years), and in 1879 the 
Guide Book tells us that "the house has been 
thoroughly renovated and refurnished; pure spring 
water has been brought through pipes from the 
mountains; and with boating, fishing, and livery 
facilities but little has been left undone that can 

39 



contribute to the comfort or pleasure of old admirers 
or newcomers. A pleasant cottage on the shore, 
just north of the house, with rooms en suite and 
tastefully furnished, is of recent build and adds 
considerably to the attractions of the place. The 
grounds receive constant attention; the guests are 
of the best; in short, there are few better or more 
deservedly popular places at the lake than the 
Mohican House." In 1876 Mr. Brown had made a 
decided improvement on the old house by con- 
structing the porch on the east side. 

On October 10, 1865, Mr. Barker deeded the 
Barker's Point tract to W. Rodman Winslow and 
on March 9, 1866, deeded to him the property 
at Mohican Point and Green Point. These deeds, 
however, were not acknowledged and recorded 
till September 13-18, 1879. Mr. Barker's death 
occurred at West Farms, N. Y., in March, 1881. 
He belonged to the distinguished Barker family 
of Philadelphia, and had no business or profession, 
but devoted himself to the management of his 
property which, till the last few years of his life, 
was of large value. When Mr. Brown applied to 
Mr. Winslow for a renewal of the lease he was 
unsuccessful, the latter desiring to take possession 
of the property himself. He suggested that Mr. 
Brown build a hotel of his own and named Green 
Island as a suitable site. Mr. Brown took the 
hint. Among the patrons of the Mohican House 
for several years under his management were 
E. Burgess Warren, William B. Bement, Robert 

40 



Glendenning, and George Burnham, all wealthy 
residents of Philadelphia. They formed the Green 
Island Improvement Company, bought Green Island 
for 330,000 (it had once been sold for 3600), and 
under the personal supervision of Mr. Brown the 
Sagamore hotel was built. It opened its doors to 
the public July 1, 1883, and was destroyed by fire 
on the morning of June 27, 1893. This fire was a 
very spectacular one. It broke out just before 
dawn in the laundry of the hotel. The air was 
absolutely motionless, so that the flames shot 
straight upward, and without wavering or changing 
much in volume moved slowly and majestically 
along to the east like an enormous pillar of fire. 
It was owing to this circumstance that a large 
amount of personal property in the hotel was 
saved, but the building itself was totally consumed. 
A new hotel was erected at once and Mr. Brown 
continued as manager till 1905. In 1882, while Mr. 
Brown was proprietor of the Mohican House, he 
induced the government to open a post-office near 
by; he named the place Bolton Landing, and at his 
suggestion Frederick W. Allen was appointed post- 
master. Mr. Allen's commission was dated Sep- 
tember 14, 1882. He served till 1894. When the 
Sagamore hotel was built in 1883 there were only 
four residences at Bolton Landing, one store, and the 
Baptist Church. 

In 1883 and 1884 the Mohican House was con- 
ducted under the general supervision of Mr. Wins- 
low's second wife, Mrs. Estelle B. Winslow; in 

41 



1885 and 1886 by his mother, Mrs. CaroHne Wins- 
low; and from 1887 to the autumn of 1893 by 
Mrs. Estelle B. Winslow again. Elsewhere will be 
found a view of the house and grounds in 1889, 
and Stoddard's Guide of that year describes the 
property as follows: 

"This is one of the desirable houses of Lake 
George, and has been noted for years as the resort 
of people of culture and refinement. There is no 
ostentatious display, but on the contrary it seems 
to withdraw from the public gaze and seclude 
itself among the trees and flowers that deck the 
lake front. This was once the main landing for 
Bolton, with the 'line boat' coming and going, 
but the runners and guests from other houses, and 
travelers passing over the grounds made it too 
public a thoroughfare for those who here sought 
quiet and rest, and a new dock was built in the 
bay at the north that would accommodate all the 
hotels of that section. The house is a long, low, 
rambling structure after the Southern style, with 
piazzas facing the lake and extending along its 
south side. The trees press their heavy tops against 
it, effectually shading it from the too ardent rays 
of the sun, but underneath the wind can pass 
freely and the views of the lake are interfered with 
scarcely at all. The parlor and dining-room afford 
space for general assembly, and there are neat, 
cozy sleeping-rooms, nicely furnished, with choice 
of ground or second floor. Such as may want 
greater seclusion than the main building affords 

42 




\ll,\\ ()| Mi;. i;i\BVS SIMMKH RKSIDEXCE, 1010 




VIi:W OF MK. BIXBYS SUMMKK KKSIDKNCK. 1912 
F,r.Mte(l 1901 -02 on the Sil.- ,)t" M..hi<an House 



find in the cottage on the shore of the lake at the 
north spacious and desirable quarters, while 
toward the west is a newer and larger building 
with superior furnishings and equipment. The 
table and service are excellent — neat, clean, and 
appetizing, and in its dainty niceness very attrac- 
tive to the refined taste. For amusement, croquet 
is played under the trees, while lovers of tennis, or 
polo, or the national game find space on the level 
grounds at the west. The roads of Bolton are varied 
and picturesque, and those who enjoy riding or driv- 
ing can secure means for the pleasure here. For boat- 
ing or fishing, a fleet of lake boats dancing on the 
water south of the Point invites attention, and 
guides and fishermen stand ready for service. 
Here also is one of the finest bathing beaches 
on the lake, with sandy bottom sloping gradually 
out into deep water." 

On September 1, 1893, Frank Clark, long an 
employee of the Winslow family, took the property 
under a lease from Mr. Winslow and managed the 
hotel until the autumn of 1898, his lease expiring 
August 31st. By this time the old hotel had outlived 
its usefulness as an inn; it had become antiquated, 
was lighted with lamps, had few modern conven- 
iences, and the character of travel had so changed 
that it was inadvisable to make extensive improve- 
ments in the hope that it might regain its popularity 
with the traveling public. The Glens Falls Insurance 
Company foreclosed mortgages of 313,000 early in 
1899 and bought in the property, which, in addition to 

43 



the thirty-seven acres about the hotel, included 100 
acres on Barker's Point, just south of Clay Island, 
and 125 acres at Green Point on the west side of 
Tongue Mountain. The company then sold the 
entire property to Mr. W. K. Bixby, of St. Louis, 
Mo., whose wife, Mrs. Lillian (Turtle) Bixby, was 
born in the town of Bolton, and knew and loved 
Lake George. During part of the summer of that 
year, Mr. Bixby and his family lived at the Saga- 
more hotel and at the Tuttle homestead. He then 
bought from Mrs. Estelle B. Winslow "the spring 
lot" on the Potter Hill road in order to have an 
adequate water supply, and also bought from her 
the contents of the old Mohican House. Accord- 
ingly, he and his family occupied the house as a 
private residence in the summers of 1900 and 1901. 
It was Mr. Bixby's hope that the old house could 
be restored and preserved, but the timbers were 
found decayed and worm-eaten. The house was 
therefore torn down, and in the autumn and winter 
of 1901-1902 a large and handsome residence in the 
Colonial style was erected on the site of the old 
hotel. It was the proud boast of the latest land- 
lords that from the earliest times the Mohican House 
was never closed; in winter as well as in summer it 
received and entertained all who came. 

Winston Churchill, the American novelist, went 
to Bolton Landing in the early summer of 1896 with 
his wife, and occupied "Villa Matilda," a cottage 
standing on the Ferdinand Thieriot property, just 
south of the Mohican House. There, on July 10th, 

44 



his daughter Mabel was born, and there he finished 
his first book, "The Celebrity." In a letter to the 
writer, Mr. Churchill says: "I have never forgotten 
that summer on the very border of one of the most 
beautiful lakes in this country. I spent much of 
my time trying to catch bass, with fair success. 
The boatmen had a custom then of keeping all the 
fish one caught. In order to obviate this, I learned 
the different shoals, and got my own bait. My 
record for bass was seven pounds, caught on a cray- 
fish. I have always intended to go back and try it 
again." Herman Broesel, of New York, who, with 
his family, had been guests at the Mohican House 
for several years, bought the Thieriot property in 
1898 and lived in "Villa Matilda" until a large and 
elegant residence was built. On the Broesel property 
still stands a white cottage called "Solitude." For 
many years it was occupied by Mrs. L. H. Myers, 
of Staten Island, for whom it was built by Mr. 
Thieriot. Later it was the summer home of George 
William Warren, organist of St. Thomas' Church 
in New York. 

An examination of the hotel register from May 
1, 1883, to the time the hotel was closed forever, 
shows that J. H. Burnham of Glens Falls, N. Y., 
was the first guest, and that J. E. Blacker and wife, 
of Boston, who registered September 12, 1898, were 
the last. Among the many well-known people 
whose names appear during these years are the 
following: George Haven Putnam, Pliny T. Sexton, 
Clara Barton, Stephen Loines, General and Mrs. 



45 



Stewart L. Woodford, James O. Putnam, Samuel 
Fessenden, Hugh J. Grant, Colonel Alexander Mont- 
gomery, Alfred G. Robyn, the song writer of St. 
Louis, Bishop Paddock, and T. C. Piatt. It was a 
favorite stopping-place for tourists, and among the 
foreign countries from which guests registered were 
India, Germany, Nova Scotia, France, New South 
Wales, Saxony, Cuba, Scotland, England, Japan, 
Russia, and the West Indies. No trace of the hotel 
registers before 1883 can be found. It is believed 
that they were removed to the Sagamore hotel and 
were destroyed when that hotel burned on June 27, 
1893. 

DOCKS AT BOLTON 

From the first settlement of the town a public 
road ran east from the main highway to Mohican 
Point, and on this Point the first steamboat dock 
was constructed, perhaps as early as 1824. This 
was used for many years, not only by the guests 
of the hotel, but by the entire community. In 
1869-1870 the Bolton House was built, a short dis- 
tance north of the Mohican, by John Vandenbergh, 
and the second dock in the town was constructed 
there about 1873. This hotel was enlarged in 1877; 
it was then made three stories high, had a French 
roof and two observatories, and could conveniently 
accommodate 125 guests. When the promiscuous 
travel through the Mohican House grounds became 
a great annoyance to the guests, the proprietor 
allowed the dock to fall into decay. Accordingly 

46 



the steamboats began landing passengers at the 
Bolton House dock. Next to the Mohican, the 
oldest hotel in Bolton was the Wells House, which 
stood on the north side of the Potter Hill road not 
far from the main north and south highway, Dorcas 
Wells kept boarders there as far back as 1865. In 
1874 H. A. Dearstyne became the proprietor. In 
1884 he secured, by permission of James Palmetier, 
of Chicago, a strip of land running through the 
Palmetier property from the main highway to the 
lake, and constructed in the little bay just north 
of the Mohican House the third dock in the town 
of Bolton, and the "line boats" made landings there 
instead of at the Bolton House. The Wells House 
was totally destroyed by fire on the night of Deco- 
ration Day, 1890. The steamers then used the 
Bolton House dock again. In 1903 Mr. Vanden- 
bergh sold this property to Riley M. Gilbert, of 
New York, who tore down the hotel and built a 
handsome residence on the old foundations. The 
town of Bolton then leased a strip of land from the 
highway to the lake and along the lake shore and 
constructed the fourth dock on the Conger property, 
a little farther north. It is now the only public 
dock in the town. 

When the Wells House burned, the land on which 
it stood, the road to the dock, and a strip of land 
between this road and the Mohican House property 
belonged to Myron O. Brown. About 1903 he sold 
it all to Mr. Bixby, who then made an arrangement 
with the town of Bolton whereby the public road 

47 



through his property was abandoned and the town 
received from him the road to the lake which had 
been opened originally for the benefit of the Wells 
House. 

THE COTTAGES 

When Mr. Bixby bought the Mohican House 
property, two large cottages that had been used by 
guests of the hotel stood on the grounds. The 
oldest of these, the "Lake Cottage," was close to 
the hotel; the other, called the "Road Cottage," 
stood on the extreme northwest corner, fronting 
on the highway. The first store in the town — the 
little red building built by Hitchcock about 1807 
at the extreme end of Mohican Point — was torn 
down by Lyman about 1840, and the timbers, 
hewn by hand, were used by him in constructing a 
barn which stood on the south side of the driveway 
not far from the main road. The first blacksmith 
shop in the town had been built east of the site of 
this barn and directly on the highway. This was 
demolished about the time the barn was built. 
When Myron O. Brown leased the Mohican House 
from Mr. Barker in 1875, he tore down the barn and 
used the timbers in building the "Lake Cottage." 
This building was two stories high and contained 
twelve rooms. The "Road Cottage" was built 
about 1885 by W. Rodman Winslow and was three 
stories high. The first floor was of huge dimensions, 
and designed as a carpenter shop to be used par- 
ticularly for the manufacture and storage of boats, 

48 




SUMMF.R-HOUSE ON THE POINT, 1908 




POND ON THE LAWN, 1908 



and opened directly on the highway. On the 
second floor were nine bedrooms and an assembly 
room; the third floor was a storeroom, and an 
outside stairway led to both floors. In the hotel 
itself were twenty-eight rooms for guests, and in 
the two cottages twenty-one, making a total of 
forty-nine. The usual charge for room and board 
was $3 a day for each person, or $15 per week. 

When Mr. Bixby purchased additional land 
north of the original lot, he moved the "Lake 
Cottage" — now known as the "George Cottage" — 
about a hundred feet further north and had it 
rebuilt. The "Road Cottage" — now known as 
"Nearby Cottage" — was moved diagonally across 
the highway and was likewise rebuilt. Both are 
occupied in the summer by private families. It 
seems probable that some of the timbers in the 
"George Cottage" are the oldest hewn timbers at 
Bolton Landing; they have certainly been on the 
property for more than a century. 

THE GROUNDS 

From the north and south highway along the 
shore of the lake two long driveways extend across 
Mr. Bixby's property. One running west, bisects 
an extensive flower and vegetable garden and 
stretches on to one of the most beautiful pieces 
of woods on the entire lake. A few giant trees, 
spared by the first lumbermen, stand as guardians 
over the younger generation, but the woods are 

49 



composed mainly of second-growth pines, hem- 
locks, oaks, beeches, and maples, whose interlocking 
branches shut out the sun and shelter the ferns 
and wild flowers growing in profusion below. 
Deep layers of pine needles add to the beauty of 
this delightful retreat. Except that winding paths 
have been constructed along the margins of rocky 
streams to add to the pleasure of a quiet stroll, 
the work of Nature has been undisturbed. The 
other driveway runs from the highway directly 
east, passes the residence, and ends on the shore of 
the lake. Two rows of elms are growing so rapidly 
that they will soon join their branches above it. 
On the north side of the driveway is a walk well-nigh 
completely arched by elms and maples. South of 
the driveway is a beautiful pond with a little island 
and a rustic bridge. The water is conducted by 
underground pipes from the springs in the woods, 
and flowing over the spillway on the east side of the 
pond runs on to the lake. At the extreme end of 
the Point is a summer-house built on the foundation 
of the original dock, from which one may admire the 
manifold beauties of the lake in quiet seclusion. 
South of the Point is a long, sloping, sand-covered 
bathing beach — one of the very few on Lake George, 
for generally the banks of the lake are rocky and 
precipitous. North of the Point is the boathouse, 
a commodious structure, at which the fleet is moored. 
The "Forward," forty-five feet in length, with two 
gasoline engines and twin screws, is a fast and 
beautiful launch; the "St. Louis" runs by electricity 

50 



and will carry twenty passengers; the "Show-Me" is 
one of the modern hydroplanes with a powerful 
engine; the "Takonsie," an electric boat, fitted 
especially for Mrs. Bixby's use, is the one boat from 
which the disciples of Walton are barred; the 
"Weary" — so named because it goes as though it 
were — has long been a favorite electric boat for 
short excursions after bass; and a sailboat and a 
dozen rowboats and canoes complete the equip- 
ment. Scattered about the lawn are beautiful 
flowers, vines, and shrubs, partly concealing the 
tennis court and the clock golf course. Among the 
many beautiful trees are two worthy of particu- 
lar notice. One is a water maple, twelve feet in 
circumference, standing north of the residence; it 
is perfect in all its magnificent proportions and is 
one of the most interesting trees on Lake George. 
The other, south of the residence, is a locust, four- 
teen feet in circumference, which was growing 
there long before the white men came, and is the 
last survivor in this vicinity of the trees which the 
Indians knew. Myron O. Brown, who was born 
in the town of Bolton in 1837, said to the writer 
in the summer of 1913: "When I was a small boy 
town meetings were held at the hotel on Mohican 
Point, and I used to lie on the ground under the old 
locust and watch the young men play ball. It 
does not seem to me that the tree has grown in size 
in sixty years." In recent times the giant locust, 
weakened by years, has shown in the topmost 
branches the eflFect of the winds and the storms, 

51 



but a photograph of it, reproduced elsewhere, shows 
the tree in all its majesty and beauty. Under it lies 
what is called the Sacrificial Stone, which Mr. Bixby 
caused to be removed from its original resting-place in 
the garden on the west side of the highway. In one 
of the early editions of Stoddard's "Guide Books" 
the legend of this boulder is told in these words: 
"The legend of the Sacrificial Stone is the story 
of an Indian girl brought a prisoner from the 
shores of the Great Northern Lakes by the Mohicans 
in one of their periodical war raids through 'the 
Lake that is the Gate of the Country.' Arrived at 
their village here, a young chief, the pride of the 
nation, gazed into the stranger's dark eyes and was 
made captive by her grace and beauty. He would 
have taken her to his wigwam in preference to any 
maiden of his own tribe, but the old women of the 
nation had chosen for him another bride; and 
when he again went on the warpath, and the cruel 
old men and women only were in possession of the 
camp, it was decreed that the daughter of the 
Northern tribe should die. They bound her to the 
stake, piled fagots high around her slight form 
and lighted the death-fire; but even as the crackling 
flames curled upward, a supernatural form which 
shone like a blazing comet — stronger than a buffalo 
and swift as the wind — swept through the circle, 
scattering the blazing brands like playthings right 
and left, and, seizing the willing captive, dashed out 
again before the awe-struck crowd had recovered 
from their terror. Running through the growing 

52 



corn to the middle of the field at the west, bearing 
the slight form of the maiden in its strong arms, it 
sprang to the top of a large stone, and from it flew 
upward over the hills! The girl was never seen 
more, and curiously enough also the young brave 
came not back to his people. He had vanished out 
of their lives. But thereafter, at every coming of the 
tasseled corn, some warrior of the tribe was slain 
by a mysterious being who came out from dark 
Ouluka — 'the Place of Shadows' west of the great 
peaks — a warrior who shone like the fox-fire of 
the lowlands, and whose cunning and might were 
beyond the power of human brave; and the body of 
his victim was left lying across the stone from which 
the stranger sprang over the hills. And the blood- 
stains on the rock took the shape of picture-writing, 
where the people read their fate; for the Great 
Spirit had decreed that for every fire-touched hair 
of the maiden's head a Mohican brave must die, 
until the tribe should be no more. As proof, the 
rock still lies there, and they who know will show 
you the footprints of the mysterious fire-chief, the 
blood stains of the victims, pictures of Indian faces 
and forms, of animals and birds and flowers and 
growing trees on the Sacrificial Stone of the 
Mohicans." 

SPORTS 

Those who visit Mohican Point in summer have 
at their choice almost every outdoor sport except 
polo. Mountain-climbing, picnics, and shore dinners, 

53 



boating and canoeing, motor-boat racing, trap-shoot- 
ing, camping trips to the small lakes that nestle 
among the mountains, tennis, clock golf, moonlight 
excursions on the water with music, motoring over 
the new State roads, swimming and diving, and 
journeys up and down the lake to innumerable 
beautiful places, many of them rich in historical 
associations, furnish an endless round of pleasure. 
The Lake George Country Club, of which Mr. 
Bixby is president, has a handsome clubhouse and 
commodious grounds about four miles south of the 
Point, and the automobiles run there daily, carrying 
those guests and members of the family who would 
dine and dance, or play tennis and golf and compete 
in the various club tournaments. The large silver 
cup which Mr. Bixby presented as a perpetual 
trophy for the golf players was won in 1913 by one 
of his sons, Mr. William H. Bixby. Under the rules, 
his name was inscribed upon it, and he received a 
silver cup of smaller size as his personal property. 
To many summer residents, the fishing on Lake 
George is a sport of irresistible fascination. Some, 
indeed, confine themselves entirely to fishing, while 
others permit golf alone to lure them from the lake. 
The fascination is due more to the sparkling water, 
the clear, invigorating air, the refreshing, health- 
giving breeze, and the magnificent, ever-changing 
scenery, which combine to make Lake George the 
most beautiful of American lakes, than to the num- 
ber of fish that may be caught. For the truth is 
that the fishing, measured by the catch alone, is not 

54 




FOUR GENERATIONS, 1913 




MK. BIXBY AND HIS KIVE SUiNS. 1913 



as good as it used to be, notwithstanding the con- 
tinuous efforts to protect the fish by shortening 
the season, arresting the poachers, and stocking 
the water; and the casual visitor, famihar with the 
lakes of the wilderness, usually complains of his 
bad luck. The skillful and patient angler, however, 
whose efforts are not restricted to a few days, seldom 
fails to satisfy all reasonable desires; and even the 
poorest and most impatient fisherman congratulates 
himself that the fates permit him to cast his line 
on such a lake as this. 

The fish for which the lake has long been cele- 
brated are the small-mouth black bass and the 
lake trout. The open season for the former does not 
begin on Lake George until August 1st, or a month 
and a half later than on other State waters. The 
shorter season is provided as an additional protec- 
tion, and is so obviously necessary that there is 
cheerful and general acquiescence on the part of the 
anglers. The fishing is usually poor in August, good 
in September, and excellent in October, for as the 
season advances the bass move in constantly increas- 
ing numbers from the deep water to the shoals. The 
most successful anglers use minnows, dobson, small 
frogs, and crayfish for bait, and try crickets, grass- 
hoppers, and earthworms when the bass seem 
fastidious or indifferent. It is well to carry a variety 
of bait, and in ample quantities, for it is hard to tell 
what the bass are waiting for. "Boast not thyself 
of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may 
bring forth." The boat should be anchored in from 

55 



fifteen to thirty feet of water over one of the innu- 
merable shoals. It is almost useless to troll around 
the islands on this lake or along the shores; fly- 
fishing is seldom resorted to, and casting with arti- 
ficial lures, so successful, especially at night, on 
many lakes and ponds, seems to be a waste of time 
here. The largest small-mouth black bass ever 
caught on Lake George, of which authentic records 
exist, weighed a trifle over seven pounds, but it is 
not believed that a bass weighing seven pounds 
has been caught in the last ten years, and one weigh- 
ing six pounds would create a sensation among the 
anglers. Mr. Bixby has landed many bass that 
weighed 5^ pounds each, but this is the record for 
Mohican Point. One forenoon in September, 1913, 
a Mohican Point angler caught two bass that weighed 
nine pounds; in the afternoon there was a decided 
increase in the number of ambitious fishermen, the 
same spot was revisited, and ten bass, weighing 
twenty-four pounds (four of which weighed sixteen 
pounds), were caught in less than two hours — all the 
large ones on crayfish. This was the season's record 
for one day. 

Lake trout are caught in water from seventy-five 
to 200 feet in depth. Most of this fishing is done in 
July, before the bass fishing opens. Frost fish caught 
in nets are used almost exclusively for bait. These 
are tied and hooked onto Seth Green gangs and 
drawn slowly through the water, close to the bottom 
of the lake. Heavy sinkers, hanging about three 
feet below the line and twenty feet ahead of the 

56 



hook, enable the fishermen to keep their bait where 
they want it. The line must be drawn in or let out 
as the depth of water changes. There is no greater 
test of a fisherman's strength and skill than to man- 
age two of these lines from a rowboat on a windy 
day, and power-boats are used by all except a few 
professional fishermen. Those who can catch four 
lake trout weighing from three pounds to eight 
pounds each in an afternoon are doing unusually 
well. The largest lake trout ever caught on Lake 
George, of which there is authentic record, weighed 
nineteen or twenty pounds. The largest ever caught 
by a member of Mr. Bixby's party weighed 14^ 
pounds. Many have been caught that weighed from 
eight to twelve pounds. There is no doubt that the 
number of lake trout has greatly increased in recent 
years, but the number caught has decreased, owing 
to the enormous increase in the food (frost fish) upon 
which the trout live. It is probable that the large 
bass feed upon these fish also and are not so much 
inclined to frequent the shoals as they were before 
the frost fish were put into the lake. 

The mysterious game fish of Lake George is the 
land-locked salmon. At long intervals one is caught 
on a lake-trout rig, and immediately reveals his 
identity (and shows his marvelous strength) by 
dragging the heavy sinker to the top of the water 
and jumping high in the air, which the lake trout 
never does; but it is doubtful if any angler on Lake 
George ever went out with the deliberate purpose 
of catching a land-locked salmon and succeeded 

57 



in doing so. Those who catch this splendid 
fish elsewhere with great success and visit Lake 
George with their flies and gangs are invariably 
baffled. And yet it is the general opinion of both 
amateur and professional fishermen that there must 
be a great quantity of salmon in the lake. The 
water has been stocked with millions of them; 
several rocky streams furnish ideal breeding places, 
and the young fish are often seen in great quantities. 
Who can solve this great piscatorial mystery.'' 

The usual variety of small fish is found in Lake 
George, but with the exception of the perch they are 
worthless and a great nuisance to the honest angler. 
Perch weighing a pound are often caught and are 
highly esteemed; indeed, many prefer them on the 
table to either bass or lake trout. Occasionally the 
perch are found in schools, and can then be caught 
in great numbers. Two or three trout streams run 
into Lake George, but the native brook trout are 
so scarce and so shy that the laborious work of the 
fisherman who stumbles over the rocks and struggles 
through the underbrush is seldom well repaid. 

IN OTHER DAYS 

Lake George anglers will read with pleasure the fol- 
lowing extracts from "Adventures in the Wilds of the 
United States," by Charles Lanman, an interesting 
work, published in Philadelphia in 1856: 

"I verily believe that in point of mere beauty it 
[Lake George] has not its superior in the world. 

58 




BOATHOUSE AND RESIULNCK FHOM A UISTA.NCK. 1911 




A SKI.KCTION FROM A MOR\INT,-S CATCH. 1913 
Siuall-iiiouth lila.k Ba-^s— .SI. 4. .1 J .iri.l .! I',..,n.ls 



. . . There are three pubhc houses here which 
I can recommend — the Lake House for those who are 
fond of elegance and company, Lyman's Tavern 
for the hunter of scenery and the lover of quiet, 
and Garfield's House for the fisherman. . . . 
Horicon is the center of a region made classic by the 
exploits of civilized and savage warfare, and can 
safely be pronounced one of the most interesting 
portions of our country for the summer tourist to 
visit. I have looked upon it from many a peak, 
whence might be seen almost every rood of its shore. 
I have sailed into every one of its bays, and, like the 
pearl-diver, have repeatedly descended into its 
cold, blue chambers, so that I have learned to love 
it as a faithful and well-tried friend. . . . 

"The days of trout-fishing in Lake Horicon are 
nearly at an end. A few years ago it abounded in 
salmon trout, which were frequently caught, weigh- 
ing twenty pounds. But their average weight, at 
the present time, is not more than a pound and a 
half, and they are scarce even at that. In taking 
them, you first have to gather a sufficient quan- 
tity or sapling-bark to reach the bottom in sixty feet 
of water, to one end of which must be fastened a 
stone and to the other a stick of wood, which 
designates your fishing-ground, and is called a buoy. 
A variety of more common fish are then caught, 
such as suckers, perch, and eels, which are cut up 
and deposited, some half-peck at a time, in the 
vicinity of the buoy. In a few days the trout will 
begin to assemble; and so long as you keep them 

59 



well fed, a brace of them may be captured at any 
time during the summer. But the fact is, this is 
only another way of ' paying too dear for the whistle.' 
The best angling, after all, is for the common brook 
trout, which is a bolder biting fish, and better for 
the table than the salmon trout. The cause of the 
great decrease in the large trout of this lake is this: 
In the autumn, when they have sought the shores 
for the purpose of spawning, the neighboring bar- 
barians have been accustomed to spear them by 
torchlight; and if the heartless business does not 
soon cease the result will be that in a few years they 
will be extinct. There are two other kinds of trout 
in the lake, however, which yet afford good sport — 
the silver trout, caught in the summer, and the fall 
trout. But the black bass, upon the whole, is now 
mostly valued by the fisherman. They are in their 
prime in the summer months. They vary from one 
to five pounds in weight, are taken by trolling and 
with a drop-line, and afford fine sport. Their haunts 
are along the rocky shores, and it is often the case 
that on a still day you may see them from your boat 
swimming about in schools where the water is twenty 
feet deep. They have a queer fashion, when hooked, 
of leaping out of the water, for the purpose of getting 
clear, and it is seldom that a novice in the gentle art 
can keep them from succeeding. But, alas! their 
numbers are fast diminishing by the same means 
and the same hands that have killed the trout. 

"A clear and tranquil summer night, and I am 
alone on the pebbly beach of this paragon of lakes. 

60 



The countless hosts of heaven are beaming upon 
me with a silent joy, and more impressive and holy 
than a poet's dream are the surrounding mountains, 
as they stand reflected in the unruffled waters. 
Listen! What sound is that so like the wail of a 
spirit? Only a loon, the lonely night-watcher of 
Horicon, whose melancholy moan, as it breaks the 
profound stillness, carries my fancy back to the 
olden Indian times, ere the white man had crossed 
the ocean. All these mountains and this beautiful 
lake were then the heritage of a brave and noble- 
hearted people, who made war only upon the deni- 
zens of the forest, whose lives were peaceful as a 
dream, and whose manly forms, decorated with the 
plumes of the eagle, feathers of the scarlet bird, and 
the robe of the bounding stag, tended but to make 
the scenery of the wilderness beautiful as an earthly 
Eden. Here was the quiet wigwam village and there 
the secluded abode of the thoughtful chief. Here, 
unmolested, the Indian child played with the spot- 
ted fawn, and the 'Indian lover wooed his dusky 
mate'; here the Indian hunter, in 'the sunset of his 
life,' watched with holy awe the sunset in the west, 
and here the ancient Indian prophetess sung her 
uncouth but religious chant. Gone — all, all gone — 
and the desolate creature of the waves, now pealing 
forth another wail, seems the only memorial that 
they have left behind. There — my recent aspirations 
are all quelled; I can walk no further to-night; there 
is a sadness in my soul, and I must seek my home. 
It is such a blessed night, it seems almost sinful that 

61 



a blight should rest on the spirit of man; yet on 
mine a gloom will sometimes fall, nor can I tell 
whence the cloud that makes me sad. 

"The beautiful Horicon of the North! Em- 
bosomed as it is among the wildest of mountains, 
and rivaling, as do its waters, the blue of heaven, it 
is indeed all that could be desired, and in every 
particular worthy of its fame. Although this lake 
is distinguished for the number and variety of its 
trout, I am inclined to believe that the black bass 
found here afford the angler the greatest amount of 
sport. They are taken during the entire summer, 
and by almost as great a variety of methods as there 
are anglers; trolling with a minnow, however, and 
fishing with a gaudy fly from the numerous islands 
in the lake are unquestionably the two most success- 
ful methods. As before intimated, the bass is a very 
active fish, and, excepting the salmon, we know 
of none that performs, when hooked, such desperate 
leaps out of the water. It commonly frequents the 
immediate vicinity of the shores, especially those 
that are rocky, and is seldom taken where the water 
is more than twenty feet deep. It usually lies close 
to the bottom, rises to the minnow or fly quite as 
quickly as the trout, and is not as easily frightened 
by the human form. 

"The late WilUam Caldwell, who owned an ex- 
tensive estate at the southern extremity of Lake 
George, was the gentleman who first introduced us 
to the bass of the said lake, and we shall ever re- 
member him as one of the most accomplished and 

62 



gentlemanly anglers we have ever known. He was 
partial to the trolling method of fishing, however, 
and the manner in which he performed a piscatorial 
expedition was somewhat unique and romantic. 
His right-hand man on all occasions was a worthy 
mountaineer, who lived in the vicinity of his mansion, 
and whose principal business was to take care of the 
angler's boat and row him over the lake. For many 
years did this agreeable connection exist between 
Mr. Caldwell and his boatman, and, when their 
fishing days were over, was happily terminated by 
the deeding of a handsome farm to the latter by 
his munificent employer. But we intended to 
describe one of Mr. Caldwell's excursions. 

"It is a July morning, and our venerable angler 
with his boatman has embarked in his feathery 
skifF. The lake is thirty-three miles long, and it is 
his intention to perform its entire circuit, thereby 
voyaging at least seventy miles. He purposes to 
be absent abouii a week; and having no less than 
half a dozen places on the lake shore where he can 
find a night's lodging, he is in no danger of being 
compelled to camp out. His little boat is abun- 
dantly supplied with fishing tackle, as well as the 
substantials of life and some of its liquid luxuries. 
He and Care have parted company, and his heart 
is now wholly open to the influences of nature, 
and therefore buoyant as the boat which bears 
him over the translucent waters. The first day his 
luck is bad, and he tarries at a certain point for 
the purpose of witnessing the concluding scene of a 

63 



deer hunt, and hearing the successful hunter expa- 
tiate upon his exploits and the quality of his hounds. 
On the second day the wind is from the south, and 
he secures no less than twenty of the finest bass 
in the lake. On the third day he also has good 
luck, but is greatly annoyed by thunder showers, 
and must content himself with one of the late 
magazines which he has brought along for such 
emergencies. The fifth and sixth days he has some 
good fishing, and spends them at Garfield's Landing 
(for the reader must know that there is a tiny 
steamboat on Lake George), where he has an oppor- 
tunity of meeting a brotherhood of anglers, who 
are baiting for the salmon trout; and the seventh 
day he probably spends quietly at Lyman's Tavern, 
in the companionship of an intelligent landscape 
painter (spending the summer there), arriving at 
home on the following morning. 

"As to my own experience in regard to bass 
fishing in Lake George, we remember one incident 
in particular which illustrates an interesting truth 
in natural history. We were on a trouting expedi- 
tion, and happened to reach the lake early in June, 
before the bass were in season, and we were stopping 
with our friend, Mr. Lyman, of Lyman's Point. 
The idea having occurred to us of spearing a few 
fish by torchlight, we secured the services of an 
experienced fisherman, and, with a boat well sup- 
plied with fat pine, we launched ourselves on the 
quiet waters of the lake about an hour after sun- 
down. Bass were very abundant, and we suc- 

64 



ceeded in killing some half dozen of a large size. 
We found them exceedingly tame, and noticed 
when we approached that they were invariably 
alone, occupying the center of a circular and sandy 
place among the rocks and stones. We inquired 
the cause of this, and were told that the bass were 
casting their spawn and that the circular places 
were the beds where the young were protected. 
On hearing this, our consciences were somewhat 
troubled by what we had been doing. 
The bass that we took, owing to their being out 
of season, were not fit to eat, and we had not 
even the plea of palatable food to offer." 



65 



LAKE GEORGE 

Near Bolton 




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